As we observe and analyze the children’s film, Moana, we will find that there are parallels of the inverted Genesis account which reveal that Maui, the secondary main character, represents Satan painted as the hero.

Many of us are familiar with the narrative of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. In the second and third chapters of Genesis, God tells Adam that he must not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or he will die as a consequence (King James Version, Genesis 2.17). The serpent figure, known as Satan in the New Testament, then persuades Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil against God’s command (Revelation 12.9). The serpent tempted Eve by informing her that God withheld the full story, that if she and Adam would eat from the tree, they would not die, but would instead become as gods knowing good and evil (Genesis 3.1-7).

There is another interpretation of the story that many have not heard. In contrast with the Biblical account which paints the serpent as an adversary and a trickster, the alternative view sees him as a symbol who was also good, because he gifted humanity with the knowledge of self and associates with the attainment of immortality (Hall 88). It fundamentally inverts the perspective of the Genesis story, rendering Satan as the good guy. As we observe and analyze the children’s film, Moana, we will find that there are parallels of the inverted Genesis account which reveal that Maui, the secondary main character, represents Satan painted as the hero.

We will begin with an overview of the opening prologue which establishes the background of the movie. Notably, the first three words uttered by the narrator happen to be the same first three words of the Bible, “In the beginning” (House, Moana, 00:00:54 – 00:00:57; Genesis 1.1). The narrator establishes that the beginning was a peaceful period when Te Fiti, the mother goddess, used her creative power to bless the whole world. Then came Maui, the most daring of all the demigods, who sought to steal the very source of the goddess’s creative power: the heart of Te Fiti. He stole it in the attempt to gift humanity with “the power to create life itself” (Johnson, Moana, 00:37:46 – 00:38:20). As a consequence, the goddess Te Fiti turned into Te Ka, a “demon of earth and fire,” and caused a sweeping fog of darkness to bring death to the whole world (Moana, 00:02:50 – 00:02:55). The goddess, now in her evil form, struck Maui from the sky and imprisoned him on an island for a thousand years.

Maui Compared to Prometheus

So, we see from the background of the plot that Maui stole the creative power from the goddess so he could selflessly gift it to humanity. We may recall a similar story in the Greek myth of Prometheus when he stole fire from the gods to do the very same thing. According to esoteric author Helena P. Blavatsky, the allegory of the fire of Prometheus was just another version of the serpent Lucifer’s rebellion against God because, like Prometheus, Lucifer (meaning “light-bearer” in Latin) brought the light, or fire (meaning wisdom), to man in the form of the forbidden fruit (237; Hall 68). Mind you, this is the inverted view of the Genesis story, not the Biblical one.

Man took the Forbidden Fruit, then Came Death into the World

The next aspect of Moana’s back-story is what makes it such an unmistakable parallel with the Book of Genesis. Maui’s act of gifting the heart of Te Fiti resulted in the goddess giving birth to a terrible darkness that brought “inescapable death” (Johnson, Moana, 00:03:44 – 00:03:47). In Genesis, it was not until after Adam and Eve received the knowledge of good and evil that the curse of death came upon them (Genesis 3.17-22). What’s more, Adam and Eve were not the only ones to receive a curse. God confined the serpent to the dust of the earth just as Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock; and in the film, Maui was imprisoned on a remote island (Genesis 3:14-15; Blavatsky 283; Johnson, Moana, 00:38:05 – 00:38:20).

Maui Compared to Satan

So far, we have looked at the story of Moana and how it parallels with the esoteric interpretation of Genesis and the myth of Prometheus. Aside from noted elements of the back-story, there are numerous characteristics of Moana’s secondary hero, Maui, that correspond with the attributes of Lucifer, or Satan.

First of all, Maui is a demigod who prides himself on his good looks. The song that introduces his character contains the lyric, “I know it’s a lot: the hair, the bod! When you’re staring at a demigod” (Johnson, Moana, 00:38:50 – 00:38:58). In the Bible, the fallen angel Lucifer had a heart that grew proud because of his beauty (Ezekiel 28.17).

Secondly, Maui was said to have been “struck from the sky” at the hand of the goddess (House, Moana, 00:03:02 – 00:03:06). Various passages in the Bible describe Lucifer as “fallen from heaven” and “cast out into the earth” (Isaiah 14:12; Revelation 12:9).

Thirdly, the narrator of the film dubbed Maui a “trickster” (meaning ‘deceiver’), and Satan is known as the father of lies (House, Moana, 00:01:50 – 00:01:54; Harper; John 8.44).

Lastly, Maui found himself stuck on a remote island for a thousand years until princess Moana set him loose after which remained a short time for him to defeat Te Ka; otherwise, Moana’s home island would die (Moana). Here, Maui resembles Satan in two ways: (1) Like Maui, Satan was bound for a “thousand years,” and (2) was “loosed [for] a little season” before he went out to deceive the nations, and to gather Gog and Magog to battle. (Revelation 20.3-10).

The Heart of Te Fiti is a Serpentine Stone

If the back-story and character qualities are not convincing enough to indicate that the film reflects the serpent allegory in Genesis, then it is necessary to note one final piece of evidence. To recap, we previously illustrated how Maui’s character corresponds with the fallen angel Lucifer – the serpent. It complements the fact that Maui’s desire to gift the creative god-like power to humans relates to the knowledge of good and evil given to mankind in Genesis. Maui is therefore analogous with the serpent. To further strengthen the claim that Maui represents the Serpent, we need only to examine the sacred stone: the Heart of Te Fiti. The heart of Te Fiti happens to take the form of a small pounamu stone, also known as a greenstone (Roach). A pounamu is a type of ‘serpentine’ rock named for its greenish pattern that resembles the skin of a snake (Keane; Schoennher 35). In the film, when princess Moana retrieved the lost Heart of Te Fiti from the sea, she held in her hands a symbolic serpent stone, containing within it the potential power of creation. It was as God had described Adam after eating from the tree of knowledge, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” (Genesis 3.22). Salvation from death would come to Adam if he ate from the tree of life to undo the curse brought by the serpent. Salvation would come to princess Moana and her people if she would restore the serpentine stone to the Goddess (House, Moana, 00:03:51 – 00:04:08).

Conclusion

Moana is a film that undoubtedly borrows elements from the Book of Genesis and the Greek myth of Prometheus. The evidence presented here, however, suggests it is more than mere cherry picking of random components from the Bible. The evidence of similarities between Genesis and the film illustrates that multiple elements match in sequence, such as the sweeping fog of death following humanity’s introduction to a god-like knowledge, and how that corresponds with the third chapter of Genesis. Furthermore, the background of Moana is not merely a repackaged version of an old Bible story, but rather a reversed creation narrative that flips the antagonist-protagonist relationship between God and Satan. The character traits of the deuteragonist demigod, Maui, relate closely to that of the Bible’s illustration of Satan. And the protagonist nature in which Maui is painted agrees with the esoteric interpretation of the Genesis story in which the serpent is regarded as the hero of humanity.

The number of the beast is 666, and it is the number of a man. John of Patmos introduces these two important points with “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number…” In order to understand what it means, we must first ask the question: What is the “wisdom” John writes of in Revelation 13:18? The Bible speaks of more than one type of wisdom. Sometimes it is a “foolish” wisdom – Paul calls it the “wisdom of this world” in 1 Corinthians 3:19. Other times, wisdom is a gift from God, like the wisdom given to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:28. One thing is for sure: being that the Bible is inspired by God, it could not possibly be inviting the reader to employ foolishness to understand what follows.

“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six [666].” (Revelation 13:18)

Here is Wisdom…

The number of the beast is 666, and it is the number of a man. John of Patmos introduces these two important points with “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number…” To understand what it means, we must first ask the question: What is the “wisdom” John writes of in Revelation 13:18? The Bible speaks of more than one type of wisdom. Sometimes it is a “foolish” wisdom – Paul calls it the “wisdom of this world” in 1 Corinthians 3:19. Other times, wisdom is a gift from God, like the wisdom given to Solomon in 1 Kings 3:28. One thing is for sure: being that the Bible is inspired by God, it could not possibly be inviting the reader to employ foolishness to understand what follows.

If we can discern what nature of wisdom John is writing about, then we might know how to begin deciphering the message. Nineteenth-century professor Moses Stuart of Andover Theological Seminary explains what John might have meant by “Here is wisdom.” In his essay he calls attention to the cultural context, noting John’s Hebrew dialect (despite the fact that Revelation was written in Greek).

“Here is wisdom conveys an idea somewhat different, according to Hebrew usage, from that which the words in English seem to suggest. The Jews, as appears by the Rabbinical dialect, were accustomed to call any thing חָכְמָה wisdom, which was said summarily, obscurely, or in the way of a mere hint… when the writer exclaims: Here is wisdom, he evidently means to say, that here is a matter which is somewhat enigmatical [difficult to understand] or obscure, for the explanation of which wisdom is needed… ‘Let him who has the requisite intelligence (νοῦν being an equivalent for the preceding σοφία,) reckon the number,’ etc. In other words: Not every person can read and understand what follows; but let him who is skilled in matters of this nature, compute what name the letters which may designate 666 will make; for this is the name of the beast.” (Prof. M. Stuart, The Number of the Beast in the Apocalypse, an essay from Bibliotheca Sacra: Or, Tracts and Essays on Topics Connected with Biblical Literature and Theology, 1843)

Prof. Moses Stuart

To sum up Stuart’s commentary, the first part of Revelation 13:18 means what it says. We ought not to read too much into the “Here is wisdom” saying because computing the number 666 is simply reserved for “him who hath understanding.” If there are some who are wise enough to “count” the number 666, John exhorts the reader to leave it up to them to do the counting. But seeing that John presents the number with a preceding hint, “it is the number of a man,” it would only encourage us to seek out what it means. And what we seek is the truth of God’s inspired Word, so the meaning of it is no secret if God will grant us the wisdom it requires.

The Mark of the Beast

As Stuart mentioned in his essay, the number 666 is a designation of the name of a man, not just the number of a man. In Revelation 13:16-17 we read that the beast causes everyone to receive one of three things to buy or sell: the mark, the name, or the number of his name.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16-17)

Clearly, in verse 17 the “number of his name” is 666 (the same number in verse 18). And the “name of the beast” is undoubtedly the name of which the number is designated. The number and the name are equivalent, or rather, they are no different in what they represent. We know the mark is also equivalent to the number because it is called “the mark of his name” in the chapter that follows (Revelation 14:11) – a clear example of the writer using the terms ‘mark’ and ‘number’ interchangeably. Therefore the mark of the beast, his name, and the number of his name all represent the same thing.

So what is the mark of the beast? Will it be a physical marking of the name and number? Rev. George Floyd Taylor, founder of Franklin Springs Institute (now Emmanuel College), believed this to be true. Taylor wrote in The Second Coming of Jesus that the number, the name, and the mark all indicate a literal marking on the flesh.

“…this mark will be a literal, visible, indelible [permanent] badge stamped upon the very flesh of the one receiving it. The Word is very positive at this point. There is absolutely nothing in the record that indicates that this mark is to be taken otherwise than literal… this mark is an index to the character of Antichrist. “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred three score and six.” – Rev. 13:18. It seems clear that the mark itself is the written number “666”; for we read: “No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” This does not mean that his mark, his name, and the number of this name are three different things; but that the same symbol is a mark, a name, and a number, all at the same time.” (Rev. G. F. Taylor, The Second Coming of Jesus, 1916)

Strong’s Concordance seems to back this up as well. It defines the Greek root word for ‘mark,’ χάραγμα (charagma), as an ‘engraving’ or a ‘stamp’ (or a ‘sign’…). It could be true that the mark will be an engraving, a stamp, or some chip implanted under the skin. But the physical application of the mark (or whether it is even physical at all) is of little consequence. It may be of greater importance to understand why the “mark” required to buy or sell will be “in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Revelation 13:16). In Revelation 22, the saints in the presence of God’s throne are said to have God’s name “in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). In addition to this, a whole array of meanings are given to the “right hand” symbolism all throughout scripture that would be much too lengthy to cover here. The point being, there is a spiritual interpretation of the mark of the beast which deserves further study.

The Bible says that anyone who receives the mark will be cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev. 14:9-11, Rev. 19:20). If the mark is merely a physical chip or engraving, anyone could be pinned down and forced to take it against their will. God is too merciful to allow any man to take away the salvation of another man. So a physical marking could never separate a man from his salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:38-39). Nonetheless, the physical mark could still be in the form of a chip/engraving, if it is merely an indication that a man has denied the Lord by choosing to “worship the beast and his image.”

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:” (Revelation 14:9-10)

The Bible gives plenty of evidence that the worship of the beast, or the image, is indispensable to receiving the mark. Every time the mark is mentioned, it is preceded or accompanied by the worship of the beast or his image (Rev. 13:15-16, Rev. 14:9, Rev. 15:2, and Rev. 20:4 are just a few examples). The mark would then be a sign of beast/image worship and a token allowing men to take part in commerce. So it is much more important for God’s people to understand the image, for it is the object of idolatrous worship that merits retrieval of the mark. The real questions we should be asking are: what does the number 666 mean, and what is the image of the beast?

What Is the Image of the Beast?

To understand the image, let us begin with an examination of the beast’s character. The second beast is the one “saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the [first] beast,” (Rev. 13:14). Notice what the beast does here: it is his act of speaking that prompts the people to make the image. Before this, the same beast is described as “speaking like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). It is the nature of his speaking that characterizes him as a dragon, and the dragon is, of course, Satan, a.k.a. the “serpent” (Rev. 12:9, Rev. 20:2). Prof. Stuart says it well and provides us with a key to understanding what his speech will be like.

“The second beast is represented as “speaking like a dragon,” Rev. 13, 11. The meaning of this simile is not obscure. A dragon, according to the idiom of the New Testament, means a huge old serpent. The sly cunning and deceitfulness of the serpent have been proverbial, from the time when Satan, under the guise of a serpent, misled our first parents in paradise. The second beast, then, speaks as the dragon did on that occasion; that is, he speaks craftily, deceitfully, in a manner adapted to allure and ruin those whom he addresses.” (Prof. M. Stuart, The Number of the Beast in the Apocalypse)

According to Stuart, the beast’s dragon-like speech is a reference to the third chapter of Genesis. That is where the serpent speaks to our first parents in paradise (Adam and Eve). Remarkably, it happens to be the only other chapter in the Bible where Satan speaks as a serpent. Let us examine the infamous words of Satan in Genesis 3:4-5. It may give us an idea of what the beast will say to the people that prompts them to make an image to worship.

“…And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?…And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1, 4-5)

The core of the serpent’s message is the deceitful assertion that men can become “as gods” through the obtaining of knowledge (allegorized by the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” Genesis 2:17). Satan asserts that the object of man’s worship should be man, because he can become as a god. In other words, man is the image.

If the speech of the beast will be anything similar to the message of the old serpent, there is only one type of image the beast will tell the people to make. The “image to the beast” (Rev. 13:14) will be the image of a man. It is also worth noting that the “number of the beast” is called “the number of a man” in Revelation 13:18.

Many scholars believe the image of the beast will be a statue like the one erected by Nebuchadnezzar in ancient Babylon (Daniel 3:1 – not to be confused with the image in his dream). Their argument is a valid one, as Strong’s concordance defines the Greek root word for ‘image,’ εἰκών (eikwn), as a ‘statue.’ But it also defines the word as a ‘profile,’ a ‘likeness,’ or a ‘representation.’ So Strong’s definition of εἰκών image is much too vague in itself to prove the statue theory.

In Revelation 13:15, three things are written about the beast image that make the statue theory a difficult case to prove:

The beast will “give life unto the image.”

The image will “speak.”

The image will “cause” anyone who does not worship the image to be killed.

“And he [the second beast] had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Revelation 13:15)

On the surface, one would think it absurd that a statue could come alive, or even speak, except through supernatural power – or by some illusion using technology. Prof. Stuart attempts to prove the statue theory, explaining how it could be made to breathe or speak by means of trickery and illusion. He refers us to the historical example of the Colossi of Memnon in ancient Egypt:

“”It was given to him [the second beast] to communicate breath (πνεῦμα) to the image of the first beast, so that this image might even speak, and might cause that those who did not worship the image of the beast, should be slain,” Rev. 13, 15. Trickery of this sort has long been well known, and often practised. The statute[sic] of Memnon, on the banks of the Nile, as Strabo tells us, was accustomed to utter a melodious sound when the sun rose, and a moaning one when it went down… the cause of this has been discovered only in recent times. It was apparently occasioned by the striking of a stone in the lap of the colossal image, which gave forth the ringing sound.*
How easily the like might be done in regard to other statues… Even the lips of a statue may easily be made to move by machinery nicely adapted to this purpose. Easier still is it to give the statue the appearance of breathing or expiration. A tube connected with the mouth or nostrils, and managed by an adroit person behind the scenes, would make the delusion complete.” (Prof. M. Stuart, The Number of the Beast in the Apocalypse)

The Colossi of Memnon in 2015

Stuart makes an excellent argument for the beast image being a phony living statue that breathes and speaks. But all of it is based on the assumption that the root word for ‘life’, πνεῦμα (pneuma), can only mean ‘breath’ or ‘current of air’. Strong’s concordance not only defines it as ‘breath,’ but also as “spirit…(by implication) [the] vital principle,” meaning the actual life force that one would usually visualize when reading “he had power to give life unto the image” – the life force in a living, breathing, speaking human being. So once again, a Greek word study, in this case, does not provide us with sufficient proof.

The Beast Will “Give Life Unto” the Image

If the life given to the image of the beast does not represent a breathing/talking statue, then what does it represent? It is interesting how the same exact phrase in English, “give life unto” is only found in one other verse in the Bible, John 6:33. This is where Jesus speaks of the eternal life he gives to the world. The Greek word translated ‘life’ in this verse is a different one, ζωή (zōē), which of course means eternal life. The same word is used in many other places as well, all meaning the eternal life given by Christ (John 6:27, John 10:28, John 17:2, Revelation 21:6).

It should come as no surprise that the Bible uses two different terms for the eternal ‘life’ (zōē) given by God and the counterfeit ‘life’ (pneuma) given by the beast. With God’s gift of eternal life, man is shaped into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29, Colossians 3:10), while Satan’s artificial version of life will be given to the beast image.

If the beast’s power to “give life unto the image” in Revelation 13:15 is understood to be eternal life (or immortality), it will certainly not be anything like the true immorality that God gives to those who believe on His son Jesus. But assuming that the beast will have power to give immortality to the image, and man is the image: what will this man-made, false immortality look like? The answer may lie in the advent of transhumanism.

Ray Kurzweil (appointed as a Director of Engineering at Google in 2012) stated in his 2001 article, The Law of Accelerating Returns, that mankind will soon achieve immortality via the technology of software-based intelligence – the merging of biological man with nonbiological machines, otherwise known as transhumanism.

“Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity — technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and non-biological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.” (Ray Kurzweil, The Law of Accelerating Returns)

Dmitry Itskov, founder and chair of 2045 Initiative and president of the Global Future 2045, made a statement in a video interview that affirms Kurzweil’s theories. He said that the next stage of human evolution will be a controlled evolution; a pursuit of technology that enhances the human lifespan by making a new body for the human being.

“Now we are facing the time where [the] unconscious evolution period has almost finished. And we come to the new era when a new period of controlled human evolution can happen. I think that [the] main efforts of their scientists and main technological progress will be concentrated on their making new body for the human being.
So the first step is to make human-like robot, which we call avatar, and to make their perfect control system via brain computer interface.
Their second step will be to develop their system of human brain life support and to connect it to the avatar so disabled people and people who are at the edge of dying can enhance their lifespan.
And the third one… finally making the artificial brain to which we can transfer the individual consciousness. And we have one more project which is actually our dream. It is producing [a] hologram-like avatar body.” (Dmitry Itskov)

Dmitry Itskov (left) and Ray Kurzweil (Right) at Global Future 2045

Furthermore, Michio Kaku seems to share sentiments with Kurzweil and Itskov. Kaku is a professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center, and author of New York Times best sellers: Physics of the Future (2011), and The Future of the Mind (2014). He also believes the future of technology will be marked by mankind achieving immortality.

“My point of view is that in some distant point in the future, when robots do become gradually more intelligent… instead of fearing them, we should either put a chip in their brain to shut them off if they become murderous or we should merge with them. Because our descendants may have a choice: (A) get older and older every year and die, or (B) wake up in an enhanced, genetically enhanced body of silicon and glass and live forever. So if you were faced with that choice: live a decrepit life aging year after year, or be a superman, young, handsome, [inaudible], and immortal, which would you choose?” (Michio Kaku)

Michio Kaku

Remember what Satan in the form of a serpent said to Eve: “…Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). The beast’s dragon-like speech (Rev. 13:11) that tells the people to make an image (Rev. 13:14) will not only be a message of man’s apotheosis (becoming as gods – Genesis 3:5), but also an empty promise that man can live forever outside of God’s gift of eternal life (John 3:16).

The Worship of the Beast and His Image

As we covered earlier, the worship of the “first beast” (Revelation 13:12), or his “image” (Revelation 13:15), will be indispensable to receiving the mark of the beast. Considering that the beast and his image are two different things, we can expect that the people on earth at that time will be required to pay homage to the beast in one of two ways.

The first requirement for the people to take the mark will be to worship the first beast. In two previous articles, The Antichrist Unveiled and Sea Beast / Earth Beast: Unlocking Revelation 13, we established that the beast is always a symbol of an empire or system of government. And the first beast of Revelation 13 is identified as Rome. This must mean that the worship of the first beast will be a form of statism; the worship of the Roman-style world government. Even though the people will worship the first beast (Rome), we know the second beast will be the one in power by the time of its inception. Because the second beast will “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” and he exercises “all the power of the first beast before him” (Revelation 13:12).

Many people on earth at that time will deny God and pay homage to the world empire in exchange for a guarantee of food on the table, security on the streets, etc. They will obey the dictates of the empire and look to government for their sense of peace and security, hence the worship of the state. It will be much like what occurred in the days of the old Roman Empire under the reign of Nero. Christians were persecuted and killed for many reasons, some being their refusal to offer sacrifices to the Emperor, or to offer incense to his images. They would not because to do so would mean denying their Lord before men (Matthew 10:33).

The second requirement for receiving the mark will be to worship the beast image (Revelation 13:15). Examples of idolatrous image worship are scattered all throughout the scriptures. Many times they were “graven images,” carved idols, or “molten images,” which were idols cast from metal (Isaiah 42:17). The Bible frequently dubs these images the “work of men’s hands” (Psalms 135:15, 2 Kings 19:18, 2 Chronicles 34:25). In contrast, Jesus Christ the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15), was called the “stone” cut out “without hands” when Daniel interpreted a prophetic dream (Daniel 2:45). And Jesus prophesied of his own body being raised from the dead after three days, calling it the temple “made without hands” (Mark 14:58).

Seeing that the beast will say to “…them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast…” (Revelation 13:14), we obviously know the beast image will be the work of men, like the graven and molten idols. At the same time, there is absolutely nothing in the text to suggest the beast image will be molten or graven from sculptors’ material of any kind. The fact that the image will “both speak, and cause” others to worship it (Revelation 13:15) strongly suggests that it will be human, evidenced by its ability to communicate. But if the image is simply a man, there still exists a problem with our interpretation: a man cannot be the work of men’s hands; otherwise he is not ‘man’ (אָדָם in Hebrew transliterated ‘Adam,’ God’s creation). The man image that people will worship would, therefore, have to be an enhanced or perfected state of man’s physical form, or intelligence – both of which are the work of man. And as we covered earlier, the fact that the beast will “give life unto” the image implies it has something to do with mankind’s pursuit of immortality.

Nazi Germany was an obvious example of this type of man image worship. On the surface, the rise of the Nazi Party (the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, NSDAP) resulted in a worship of the state, in that the Fuhrer’s following regarded him as a type of messianic figure. But at its core was a religious order that aimed to perfect humanity into a super race.

“”We do not want to have any other god, only Germany,” proclaims Adolph Hitler, and in the doctrine of National Socialism, Germany is the race. Already the priesthood of the Aryan empire of the future is in the process of creation. It is to come the mystical brotherhood of the SS.” (From the documentary, The Occult History of the Third Reich, Part One: The Enigma of the Swastika, narrated by Patrick Allen, 1992)

So chillingly similar is how the beast will (1) mark those who worship “the beast” (2) and “his image” (Revelation 14:9) and (3) kill those who will not comply. Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that his future for Germany would also be divided into three social categories: the “founders” of the race, the “maintainers,” and the “destroyers of culture.” The “destroyers” he spoke of were the Jews, Christians and others who stood in the way of the plan and met the terrible fate that is known to history.

“If we divide the human race into three categories: founders, maintainers and destroyers of culture, the Aryan stock alone can be considered to represent the first category.” (Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf)

Counting the Number of the Beast (666)

Our last question yet remains unanswered: what is the meaning of the number of the beast? Albert Ernest Stafford Smythe, co-founder and president of the first Toronto branch of the Theosophical Society, wrote an extraordinary admission of what the number means in the world of occultism. Theosophy – an esoteric movement founded in the late 19th century combining religion, philosophy and occult sciences – is not to be considered an authority on interpreting the Bible, because of its anti-Christian foundation. Nonetheless, it is worth noting what the occult world believes the number to mean; because it is after all the number of antichrist.

Beginning in 1910, Smythe wrote hundreds of columns under the title Crusts and Crumbs, many of them with the intent to proselytize for the cause of the movement. In his January 26, 1918 issue, he wrote:

“Hence the absurd efforts, for example, made in every generation to identify the ‘beast’ of the book of Revelation whose number is 666, a figure recognized long before Christianity in the Pythagorean table of numbers which is based on magic squares, and indicates the key numbers of evolution. It evidently refers to the critical state when the evolution of the animal passes over into the human, a stage of transmutation.” (Albert Ernest Stafford [Smythe] – from his column Crusts and Crumbs, January 26, 1918 issue of Theosophical Outlook)

It is not our purpose to learn every detail about the kabbalistic science of numbers mentioned by Smythe. At the same time, he made an important admission in his attempt to dazzle the readers with hidden knowledge. He said the number 666 indicates the stage of “transmutation” when the animal passes over into the human. The transmutation he spoke of is not the natural biological evolution of an animal changing to human. This transmutation is a practice in Philosophical Alchemy; an initiatory practice of transforming the animal in man (the lower self) into what they believe it really means to be human (the higher self), becoming as a god.

Deborah Harkness, an American historian, confirms this to be true as she writes about the 16th-century occultist, John Dee. Here is what she says about the purpose of transmutation in philosophical alchemy:

“Dee linked the seven rotations or revolutions in the alchemical process of transmutation to the ultimate goal of philosophical alchemy: the divinization of the alchemist. While ‘vulgar’ alchemy was concerned only with the material transformation of base metals into silver and then gold, ‘philosophical’ alchemy attempted to transform the alchemist’s soul from human to divine.” (Deborah E. Harkness, John Dee’s Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature)

An article published in the Jan. 1920 issue of The New Age Magazine quoted another occultist magazine titled Azoth. Therein it referenced the work ofJames M. Pryse, The Apocalypse Unsealed. James Morgan Pryse, another Theosophist, puts forward virtually the same admission made by Smythe:

“”Azoth,” a magazine devoted to mysticism and occultism, printed the following on “The Mark of the Beast” (August, 1917): …Mr. James M. Pryse, in his book, The Apocalypse Unsealed, has very clearly shown that the whole story is of man’s regeneration, and the stages of initiation upon the path to illumination or Christhood. The number 666, as this gifted author points out, is but the value of the letters composing the Greek words, Hé phrén, meaning the lower mind of man, which is the Beast to be conquered.” (A Corner of the Library: The Mystical Relations of Numbers and Letters, The New Age Magazine, January 1920)

Again we see the number 666 associated with transforming man’s animal nature (“the beast to be conquered”) into a state of becoming like god. Here he calls the god-like state “Christhood,” a heightened state of mind known to the New Age movement as the Christ Consciousness. It is a concept that carries the messianic title of Christ but in fact, has no biblical basis other than how it perverts the teachings of Christ. The only doctrine in the Bible that could parallel with the Christ Consciousness is the doctrine of antichrist (1 John 2:22). It is based on a belief that Jesus was not God; that he was only an illuminated master of the ancient mysteries who taught us how to perfect the mind (which they believe is the soul). The spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3) denies that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who “is come in the flesh.” And what better example of antichrist is anyone who claims to have attained a status equal to Jesus Christ?

Conclusion

So the number of the beast, as it relates to the lie told by Satan (the serpent) in the Garden of Eden (“…and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5) has much to do with the universal esoteric philosophy of men becoming as gods. We provided clear examples of this philosophy in our present world, and this is the extent of what we conclude on the matter. As we showed earlier as well, the image of the beast shares this same relation with Satan’s lie to mankind. In coming to this conclusion, we are not exempt from error. But until there is reason to believe otherwise, the premise remains as is. If any reader can make known a better way of understanding the scriptures, let them speak. But let us not have conjecture instead of argument, nor private interpretations in the place of illustrations from analogy and history. Most of all, let the Holy Spirit continue to lead us to a greater understanding of God’s Word. Amen.

Scripture provides evidence that the man of sin and the son of perdition are synonymous with the antichrist. These are all three titles signifying a man who denies that Christ came in the flesh (2 John 1:7, KJV), thereby denying the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22, KJV). The beast (equated with a horn or a king/kingdom) found in the prophetic writings of the Bible may correctly be labeled antichrist because it is characterized spiritually by its denial of God’s divinity (Daniel 11:36, KJV; Revelation 13:4-6, KJV) – this being no different from the character of the antichrist spirit (1 John 4:3, KJV).

In this article, we will embark on a quest to remove the veil of confusion surrounding the antichrist. The aim is not to project a prophetic insight into the future or a personal interpretation of symbols in the apocalyptic language. You will not find that here. The purpose of this article is to make light of how the prophecies relate the antichrist to the man of sin, the son of perdition, and the various beasts. My wish is to allow the Bible to interpret itself, but I have also injected some of my own reasoning. I encourage you to search the scriptures and verify whether or not my logic is correct.

The Antichrist by Definition

There are only four verses in the Bible that mention the term, antichrist. These are contained in the two books of 1 John and 2 John (1 John 2:18,22, KJV; 1 John 4:3, KJV; 2 John 1:7, KJV). Given that the Bible is the inspired word of God, these four verses state four indisputable facts about the antichrist:

1. There are many antichrists.

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18)

2. An antichrist is defined as anyone who “denieth the Father and the Son” or all “who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.”

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22)

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 1:7)

3. There were already many antichrists in the world, even as early as the first century when the epistles of John were written.

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 1:7)

4. There is a “spirit of antichrist” which was also in the world already. This spirit is defined as “every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh”.

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:3)

So, how can the antichrist be one man, but also many? What are the implications of the plurality of this antichrist? The fact that there are many antichrists in the world already poses a contradiction to the conventional idea of it representing only one world leader in the future – if we are true to the text. The truth is, the antichrist (strictly speaking of the term used in 1 John and 2 John) is not only one man. The antichrist is a spirit that indwells any person or group/system of people that rejects the core doctrine of the Christian faith – that Jesus is the Son of God who “is come in the flesh”(1 John 4:3, KJV). This is why the Bible says there are “many antichrists” (1 John 2:18, KJV; 2 John 1:7, KJV).

As I explained in a previous article, The Antichrist Temple Revealed, the human body is the temple of the antichrist spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:4, KJV). A man possesses that spirit when he denies Christ, thereby dethroning God in his own mind. From a biblical standpoint, this man leaves room in his heart for no other god but himself, because there is only one true God.

The Antichrist and the Beast

And this leads us to how the antichrist relates to the beast in scripture. The king demonstrates the same denial of God’s deity in Daniel 11 and the beast in Revelation 13. (I will explain more later how a “king,” a “beast,” and a “horn” can all represent a government or a kingdom.)

“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.” (Daniel 11:36)

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.” (Revelation 13:4-6)

The common characteristic that unifies the beast and the antichrist is found in the behavior of the beast. The blasphemy committed by the beast – when he speaks great things and exalts himself above God – is a manifestation of the antichrist spirit in him. His relationship to the antichrist is spiritual.

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist…” (1 John 4:3)

We have already gone over the definition of antichrist, and the spiritual relationship it has with the beast. But, what is the beast? Concerning the apocalyptic language used in the prophetic books of the Bible, the beast is a symbol for a king or a kingdom – specifically a kingdom that opposes God and Jesus Christ – an antichrist kingdom. There is evidence of this found in Daniel 7:16-17. Here, Daniel starts out by saying the four beasts in a dream “are four kings,” but further clarifies in verse 23 that the four beasts also represent four “kingdoms.”

“I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” (Daniel 7:16-17)

“Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” (Daniel 7:23)

The Four Beasts and Four Horns of Daniel and Zechariah

The four symbolic beasts written about in the book of Daniel are well known to be the historic empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (not to be confused with the four beasts in the midst of God’s throne). These same four beasts are also in the first chapter of Zechariah. History has long confirmed that these four gentile empires were the four horns that scattered the Jews. It is known to historians as the Jewish Diaspora (“diaspora” = “dispersion, scattering”).

“Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 1:18-19)

The “four horns” prophesied in Zechariah 1 could literally be interchangeable with “four kings” or “four beasts,” (not that we would want to interchange words) because the Bible consistently uses symbolic imagery of horns to prophesy of kings. And as I mentioned earlier, a beast can signify either a king or a kingdom (Daniel 7:17, 23, KJV). Quoted below are two of the most explicit examples where horns represent kings.

“And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” (Daniel 7:24)

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” (Revelation 17:12)

So the four beast kingdoms that scattered the Jews all rose and fell long ago. Rome became the fourth to scatter them when it crushed the Jerusalem Temple to pieces in 70 AD. However, the Roman Empire did not altogether fall in 476 AD like much of mainline history gives account. As the pseudonymous author John Daniel wrote in his book, Scarlet and the Beast, the Roman Empire continued to reign as the Holy Roman Empire long after its fall.

“We could possibly understand the fourth horn mentioned by Zechariah as indeed the horn of the Roman Empire. But of Rome, as it extended to medieval Europe where the old Roman Empire became known as the ‘Holy Roman Empire’, Europe’s Babylonian system of united church and state continued to be governed [spiritually, at least] by Rome.” (Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel)

This beast, identified as Rome, is further described in Daniel 7:7 as having ten horns of its own. Revelation 13 describes two more beasts: one “having seven heads and ten horns” which did “rise up out of the sea,” and another after it that “had two horns like a lamb” which was “coming up out of the earth.” The first of these two beasts – the one which rose up out of the sea – had one of his heads “wounded to death” and “his deadly wound was healed.” Some researchers believe the deadly head wound (Revelation 13:3,12, KJV) represents the fall of Rome, and his healed wound was the continuation of the Holy Roman Empire. It’s an interesting interpretation, but I cannot say for sure if it’s correct.

The Man of Sin and the Son of Perdition

As for the ‘man of sin’ and ‘son of perdition,’ there is no denying that these two names are both synonymous with each other. The proof text for this is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. You can see the two names are stated back to back, as in listing two titles for the same person.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

So they are no doubt the same, but are the man of sin and the son of perdition the same as the antichrist? We’ve already established that there are many antichrists, meaning there is a spirit of antichrist that dwells in many people. There is no indication that the Bible uses the word, antichrist, to refer to only one person. So how can the son of perdition be the same as the many antichrists? There is only one son of perdition. Right?

Wrong.

In the 17th chapter of John, Jesus is praying to the Father. This entire chapter is known as the High Priestly Prayer. Starting from John 17:2, you may notice a common thread throughout the chapter. He repeatedly mentions how believers in Christ are given to Him by the Father. When we reach John 17:12, Christ is still praying about believers, referring to them as “those that thou gavest me.” In this verse, Christ also states in prayer that “none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)

Keep in mind that the context of this entire chapter is Jesus praying about all of his believers. We can be sure that He is not only talking about the twelve disciples – even though the previous chapter is a conversation between Him and his disciples, and that John 17:9 may sound like his prayer is exclusively for them. We can be confident that He prayed for all believers because of what He said in verse 20.

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” (John 17:20)

It appears as if Jesus was so thoughtful as to include this identifying statement for anyone who might ask the question, ‘who was he praying for?’ He was not only praying “for these alone” (the disciples who were near him at that moment), but “for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” This is important because it further identifies who He was talking about earlier in John 17:12 when he said, “…and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition…” He was not only talking about his disciples, and the son of perdition was not only Judas Iscariot, the lost one of the twelve. The son of perdition is not only one man, and there is not only one man in the world who is lost. All who are not in Christ are lost. The same is true about all who possess the spirit of antichrist. Every man who denies the Father and the Son, or confesses not that Jesus came in the flesh, is an antichrist. He is the man of sin and the son of perdition.

Some may still argue that Jesus was only talking about Judas Iscariot when he mentioned the son of perdition. This could be said because it is true that he was the only lost one of the disciples, and his betrayal of Jesus took place so “that the scripture might be fulfilled.” My final argument against this is simple: the apostle Paul talks about the revealing of the son of perdition in as a future occurrence (2 Thessalonians 2:3). And Paul wrote his epistle to the Thessalonians long after Judas Iscariot’s death. Therefore, the son of perdition cannot be only a title for Judas. Jesus may have been calling Judas an antichrist when he mentioned the son of perdition in John 17:12, but Paul was certainly not speaking of Judas in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

Scripture provides evidence that the man of sin and the son of perdition are synonymous with the antichrist. These are all three titles of a man who denies that Christ came in the flesh (2 John 1:7, KJV), thereby denying the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22, KJV). The beast (equated with a horn or a king/kingdom) found in the prophetic writings of the Bible may correctly be labeled antichrist because it is characterized spiritually by its denial of God’s deity (Daniel 11:36, KJV; Revelation 13:4-6, KJV) – this being no different from the character of the antichrist spirit (1 John 4:3, KJV).

The scriptures tell us that the antichrist is each and every man who denies that Jesus is God. Read more to learn how the Bible teaches us the antichrist temple is the human body, the dwelling place of the “spirit of antichrist”.

A simple word study in the Bible reveals that the word ‘temple’ can take on several meanings:

The Jerusalem Temple

The first and most obvious meaning of the word is the earthly place of worship – the Tabernacle – as in both the first and second temples in Jerusalem. We will not be covering much about the Jerusalem temples. Our focus will be on the next two definitions.

The Temple in Heaven

The second meaning of the word found in scripture is the temple in heaven where God dwells. Revelation 21:22 tells us that John saw no temple in heaven because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”. Since God Almighty and the Lamb ARE the temple in heaven, we know it would be wrong to assume that it’s a physical building. This temple in heaven, being the encompassing presence of God himself (God Almighty and the Lamb) is the same temple referred to in many other places throughout the book of Revelation. In the following verses it is clear that the setting is in heaven. (See Revelation 7:15; 11:19; 14:15; 14:17; 15:5-6; 15:8; 16:1; 16:17).

“Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” (Revelation 7:15)

“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” (Revelation 11:19)

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” (Revelation 14:15)

“And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.” (Revelation 14:17)

“15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.” (Revelation 15:5-6)

“And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” (Revelation 15:8)

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” (Revelation 16:1)

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.” (Revelation 16:17)

The Human Body as a Temple

The third and final meaning of this word is used by Jesus when he refers to his own body as a temple. In John 2:19-21, Jesus stands in the Jerusalem temple as he prophecies that his body, the temple, will be rebuilt in three days upon his resurrection.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:19-21)

This use of the word, meaning Christ’s physical body, is later applied when referring to every saved Christian as his or her body becomes a dwelling place of the Holy Ghost. In 1 Corinthians, Paul states this point plainly for us.

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

The Human Body is the Antichrist Temple

So the human body, God’s own creation, is the new temple of the Holy Ghost on Earth as revealed by Christ in the New Testament. This is a big deal! And I believe the New Testament writings make a much bigger deal about this than most people today might think. Let me explain…

This temple of God, the body, is the same one referred to in passages about the antichrist. The antichrist’s dwelling place is not a rebuilt tabernacle of modern day Israel. The antichrist’s temple is the human body, and the antichrist spirit is in each and every man who calls himself God in his own body, “showing himself that he is God”. Just try to read 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 with this in mind:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)

The most important words in the above passage are in the latter part, verse 4. Try to set aside everything you may have heard in the past about this verse. Just read what the Bible says: “so that HE AS GOD SITTETH IN THE TEMPLE of God, SHEWING HIMSELF that HE IS GOD.” The antichrist man sits in the temple – in the place of the Holy Ghost – by calling himself God, or removing God from the picture altogether. How else could sitting in the temple show himself his own apotheosis? Sorry if this sounds confusing. But it’s so very simple. The temple that he sits in is his own body – the antichrist’s body.

This ANTICHRIST is not just the name of one man. The Bible says very clearly in the following passages that an antichrist is any man or woman who denies that Jesus Christ is God.

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 John 1:7)

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:3)

So the antichrist is any man who denies that Jesus is God in the flesh, thereby dethroning the true God in his own mind. When he does this, he leaves room for no other god but himself – no matter what other religion he might self-identify with – because there is only one true God. The antichrist temple is a man’s body when he has made it the dwelling place of the “spirit of antichrist”.

Why does the first beast come up from the sea and the second from the earth? In this text, we will briefly go over Revelation 13, uncover the identity of the first beast, and point to the Bible’s own interpretation of the symbols, “sea” and “earth”.

The 13th chapter of Revelation contains John’s vision of two beasts. The first one “having seven heads and ten horns” which rose up “out of the sea”, and the second one that has “two horns like a lamb” which will come up “out of the earth”. Why does the first beast come up from the sea and the second from the earth? In this text, we will briefly go over Revelation 13, uncover the identity of the first beast, and point to the Bible’s own interpretation of the symbols, “sea” and “earth”.

The Sea Beast

The first of the two beasts rose up out of the sea (Revelation 13:1-10, the first half of the chapter). We will refer to it as the SEA beast. It is the same as the fourth of the four beasts in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel 7:3-7 is where we read about four beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and one diverse from all the ones before it. The sea beast in the first half of Revelation 13 is characterized by the same three creatures, being likened to a leopard with a bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth.

The four beasts in Daniel 7 are in fact the historic Empires of Babylon (the lion), Medo-Persia (the bear), Greece (the leopard), and Rome (diverse from the others). This was covered briefly in a previous article, The Antichrist Unveiled. History of the Jewish Diaspora confirms that the fourth of the four beasts is the Roman Empire. And we know without a doubt that a beast is a symbol for a kingdom (Daniel 7:23). But how do we know the first beast in Revelation 13:1-10 is the same Roman beast? One way we know is that it shares three characteristics:

it also has ten horns (which only the fourth beast had)

it also came up from the sea

it carries traits from the first three beasts in Daniel 7 and combines them into one beast – just as the fourth beast in Daniel is “diverse from all the beasts that were before it”.

This is how we conclude the sea beast in Revelation 13 is Rome.

The Earth Beast

The second of the two beasts is the one coming up out of the earth (Revelation 13:11-18, the second half of the chapter). We will refer to it as the EARTH beast. It is the one that is known so well for the number of the beast (666).

In verses 12-18, many things are prophesied about this beast that reveal it is different from the sea beast (Rome), and actually takes place in a future time. This includes the sea beast being named as “the first beast before him”, as well as the earth beast causing fire to come down from the sky, deceiving the people with the fire to make an image to the beast, killing anyone who will not worship the image, and causing all people to take the mark of the beast (666), his name, or the number of his name. For more on the number 666 and the image of the beast, see 666 and the Image of the Beast.

Sea Beast / Earth Beast Symbolism

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” (Rev. 13:1)

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” (Rev. 13:11)

What are the meanings of the two beasts rising up out of the SEA and the EARTH? Basing our answer on the Law of First Mention, we must go back to the first occurrences of the terms earth and sea in Genesis 1. It says in Genesis 1:9 that the dry land first appeared when the waters gathered to one place. Then in verse 10, it is actually God who gave the sea and the earth their names.

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he seas: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:9-10)

Now apply this concept to the two beasts in Revelation 13. The beast which came up out of the sea must be “gathered together unto one place” [gather/unite the whole world] before the beast which will come up out of the earth can “appear”.

There is plenty of Biblical evidence to prove the “sea” symbol in Revelation 13 means a gathering of people from around the world. The same symbolic imagery of “waters” is found in Revelation 17:15. There it states that the “whore” (MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT) sits upon “waters” which are interpreted to be “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”. And as it says earlier on in Revelation 17:1, the whore sits “upon many waters”, but in verse 7 she is really sitting on the beast that is upon many waters. And that beast happens to have seven heads and ten horns, just like the sea beast in Revelation 13.

All of this may help to paint a clearer picture of how the two beasts, or two world orders, take their places in history. The new world order (the earth beast), would come as a result of the old world order (the sea beast, or Roman system) gathering the peoples, tongues and nations together. In other words, we can infer that the new world order emerges as a result of the formation of a globalized society.

The old legend of Atlantis parallels with Bible prophecy of the beast having seven heads and ten horns. Quoted From Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel.

Quoted below is an excerpt from Scarlet and the Beast by John Daniel, vol. 1, 1994.

Note: When the author writes that America (the new Atlantis) is a revival of the Roman empire, he is referring to the “little horn” that “came up from among” the ten horns of the beast in Daniel 7:7-8. He clarifies this later in the same chapter of the book. He suggests that the “little horn” is the United States in Bible Prophecy. I cannot confirm this to be a correct interpretation. The reason I quote the book is to show the remarkable parallel between the Masonic legend of Atlantis and the beast of Revelation “having seven heads and ten horns”.

The Atlantis Legend

Every ancient culture tells the story of a prehistoric civilization destroyed by flood. Apart from the Biblical account of Noah’s flood, the most renowned is the legend of the sinking of Atlantis. Ignatius Donnally, in Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, compares the Biblical account with this Greek legend:

“The [Biblical] Deluge plainly refers to the destruction of Atlantis, and agrees in many important particulars with the account given by Plato. The people destroyed were in both instances, the ancient race that had created civilization; they had formerly been in a happy and sinless condition; they had become great and wicked; they were destroyed for their sins — they were destroyed by water.”

The earliest of secret societies were obsessed with the legend of Atlantis. Freemasonry is no exception. William Still, in New World Order, informs us that “[a]ccording to Masonic sources, the most important mystery of secret societies is an ancient plan, passed down for thousands of years by oral tradition, for the establishment of a world government – a ‘universal democracy’ – a ‘New Atlantis.'”

Old Atlantis was believed by Freemasonry to have been a democracy. Legend states that it was also an advanced scientific society. In fact, it is reputed to have been the center of learning. Still explains:

“Secret societies believe that in Atlantis stood a great university where most of the arts and sciences originated. The structure that housed this university was an immense pyramid with many galleries and corridors, with an observatory for the study of the stars sitting on its immense apex.”

Mackey’s Encyclopedia of Freemasonry says that from this legend “developed a long-lasting tale of a continent in the Atlantic, somewhere west of the Straits of Gibraltar, once covered with civilization, which sank suddenly under the waves.”

Explorers have searched for “lost Atlantis” in the Mediterranean, west and south of Africa, South America, and off the east coast of the United States. In 1932 Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), a psychic from Kentucky, reportedly pinpointed Atlantis. To no one’s surprise Cayce said it was where Plato had located it, in the Atlantic Ocean, though Cayce did not specify exactly where in that great watery expanse somewhere between the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico. Then, he made another prediction that Atlantis would one day rise up out of the sea near the Caribbean island of Bimini.

Can we find any connection between the Atlantis of ancient legend and the location of the Beast empire? Surprisingly, the apostle John gives a description similar to Cayce’s of the Beast empire in Revelation 13:1: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns…”

The numbers seven and ten from this verse in Revelation correlate with the Atlantean legend. Still states that “some 10,000 years before the Greek civilization, Atlantis was ruled in complete harmony by a cooperative commonwealth of ten kings, known as the Atlantean League. Seven of these kings ruled over the seven islands that actually made up what was called the ‘continent of Atlantis.’ The other three kings of the Atlantean kingdom ruled over the other three known continents; Europe, Asia, and Africa.”

The legend states that these ten kings were brothers, which may mean they belonged to a brotherhood similar to Freemasonry. Freemasonry believes the number “10” is significant when applied to government. Manly P. Hall, a 33rd degree Mason, explains:

“The league of ten kings is the cooperative commonwealth of mankind, the natural and proper form of human government. Atlantis, therefore, is the archetype or the pattern of government, which existed in ancient days but was destroyed…”

Like the Biblical story, the legend of Atlantis states that its destruction was due in large part to its passion for limitless luxury. No longer did the Atlanteans value goodness above material wealth. Plato says, “The portion of divinity within them was now becoming faint and weak through being ofttimes blended with a large measure of mortality.”

Loving their possessions above all else, the Atlanteans had lost their virtue. And now the seven kings of the seven isles of Atlantis amassed a great army to conquer the three continents. Because of their greed for power, the father of the gods (Zeus) caused the seven islands (seven heads) of Atlantis, with its population, to sink beneath the waves.

Freemason Hall states that when Atlantis died, so did the “ideal pattern of government.” According to Hall, the “league of ten kings” is part of the “Secret Doctrine” preserved by secret societies through their oral traditions. Hall believes that when the unifying force of the ten kings was broken, destruction automatically followed. “so complete was this destruction, ” he writes, “that men forgot there is a better way of life, ad accepted the evils of war and crime and poverty as inevitable… The old Atlantis is gone, dissolved in a sea of human doubts. But the Philosophical empire would come again, as a democracy of wise men.”

Free masonry planned long ago to philosophically raise Atlantis out of the sea, and in this new land, reestablish democracy as a New World Order. Masonic author George H. Steinmetz confirms in Freemasonry: Its Hidden Meaning that the democratic philosophy of Freemasonry “has been traced back to the ‘Lost Continent of Atlantis.'” He attempts to prove that Atlantis was a Masonic society by suggesting that the destroyed temples of upper Egypt are all part of that Atlantean destruction: “There [in Egypt] we find similar floor plans, the same ‘dark north,’ and many of the same emblems.” Finally Steinmetz says that one cannot understand the universality of Freemasonry without accepting the Atlantean account.

Hall concurs: “Masonry is a university, teaching the liberal arts and sciences of he soul to all who will attend to its words. It is a shadow of the great Atlantean Mystery School, which stood with all its splendor in the ancient City of the Golden Gates, where now the turbulent Atlantic rolls in unbroken sweep.”

Hall suggests that the antediluvian civilization was democratic, that Freemasonry planned over three centuries ago to recreate a universal democratic society that will philosophically “rise up out of the sea,” and like Atlantis, join with ten kings to lead mankind in the pursuit of universal happiness. He says that the Christian Church has delayed the search for he “New Atlantis.” And he alludes to the ancient Roman empire as the last attempt at resurrection of the Atlantean project and states that another attempt would be made.

We can see how Freemasonry’s planned resurrection of Atlantis correlates with Daniel’s prophecy of a revived Roman empire. Likewise, John’s vision of the Beast with ten horns (representing ten kings) is more significant in this regard given the fact that Freemasonry calls for its one-world government to be patterned after the “Atlantean League” of ten kings. Therefore, to locate the headquarters of Freemasonry’s “New Philosophical Atlantis,” Daniel’s revived Roman empire, and John’s Beast, we must search for a land that meets the following requirements:

If old Atlantis was democratic, then New Atlantis will be democratic and most likely be born of Templar French Freemasonry, the father of modern democracy.

John’s Beast and Freemasonry’s “Philosophical Atlantis” will figuratively rise up out of the sea in the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere west of the Straits of Gibraltar where old Atlantis was alleged to have sunk.

If resurrected west of the Straits of Gibraltar, Daniel’s revived Rome will be a new land in a new world populated from the territory of the old Roman empire.

Daniel’s uncivilized Beast will be born in an uncivilized western land bordered by water — from Daniel’s vantage point at Babylon — a land in the extreme west.

John’s Beast will eventually unite with ten kings as did old Atlantis.

Unlike Edgar Cayce, Hall is not looking for ancient Atlantis to literally rise out of the sea, but rather, looks to America as the nation that will represent “Philosophical Atlantis.” In America’s Assignment With Destiny, he writes, “The explorers who opened the New World operated from a master plan and were agents of re-discovery rather than discoverers.” In a second book, The Secret Destiny of America, Hall claims that the unifying goal of ancient secret societies was to create a “New Atlantis” beyond the Atlantic Ocean, in what is now called America. “The bold resolution,” he said, “was that this western continent should become the site of the philosophic empire.”

Still explains that “America, according to this Great Plan, was to become the first nation to begin to establish a ‘universal democracy,’ or ‘world commonwealth of nations.’ This quest was said to be the most noble pursuit to which a man could devote himself.”

Quoted from Blaise Pascal’s literary work, Pensées (Thoughts). Pascal was a French mathematician who later turned to Christianity.

“Before we examine the evidence of the truth of Christianity, I need to point out an inconsistency of those who are careless about the truth. Yet it is vital to them, for it intimately affects their lives. Of all their miscalculations, this is what most blatantly shows up their blind folly.

It is this. This present life is momentary, but the state of death is eternal. How terribly important it is then to live in the light of the eternal since it ultimately affects all that we do or think. Since nothing is more obvious than this observation, how absurd is it to behave differently? That we as a people have a sense of eternity and yet we’re drawn to live for the present. And nothing could be more foolish. Seen from this angle, how absurd it is for people to go through life without regard for their final destiny.

Instead they are lead as they feel inclined, and they indulge themselves unreflective and careless as though they could wipe out eternity and enjoy some passing happiness merely by repressing their thoughts. Yet death is real, for it threatens us at every moment of time while eternity is also real, and is in this fact a threat of ultimate destruction and misery.

This creates the prospect of terrible consequences. Indeed, it is the prospect of eternal damnation. Yet people do not even bother to find out if eternity is merely an old wive’s tale. Though this stares them in the face, they do not even trouble to find out if the argument for it is valid. They have no idea whether they should or should not refuse to face up to this question. What an appalling way to behave.”

(Pensées “Thoughts” By Blaise Pascal, French mathematician who later turned to Christianity)

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?: A humble attempt to explain the gospel of God in 156 words.

If you’re an enemy of God (Rom 5:10; Col 1:21; James 4:4) until you repent and have faith in Jesus Christ, and Jesus taught to love and pray for our enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27): How much more does God love you, his enemy, even if you reject him? It’s as the Bible says, “He first loved us” (1 John 4:19) and that’s the reason why we come to love Him.

God loves his enemies, “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9), but that’s not to mistake that He is on their side when they are still children of the Devil (Acts 13:10; John 8:44), and are yet to be born again. He’s a mighty “King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3) who preserves his people (2 Tim 4:18; Jude 1:1; Psalm 31:23) and will destroy his enemies in perfect judgement (Heb 10:26-27; Rev 20:14-15; Rev 21:8).

It sure is good to know that Jesus Christ is given all authority over Heaven and Earth (Matt 28:18; John 3:35). And that same Christ gave his own life for us; the greatest act of love (John 15:13). He took God’s wrath in our place (Rom 3:24-26; Isaiah 53:4-6, 9-10) – for all that believe (John 1:12-13).

Romans 5:10
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Colossians 1:21
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled”

James 4:4
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Matthew 5:44
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

Luke 6:27
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,”

1 John 4:19
“We love him, because he first loved us.”

2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Acts 13:10
“And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?”

John 8:44
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

Psalm 95:3
“For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

2 Timothy 4:18
“And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Jude 1
“Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”

Psalm 31:23
“O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.”

Hebrews 10:26-27
“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”

Revelation 20:14-15
“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 21:8
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Matthew 28:18
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”

John 3:35
“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”

John 15:13
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Romans 3:24-26
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Isaiah 53:4-6, 9-10
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all…

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

John 1:12-13
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”